Small Cities Climate Action Partnership

1. Small CitiesClimate Action Partnership An Innovative and Replicable Model for Advancing Energy Management in California’s Smaller Municipalities Kif Scheuer, Program Director Strategic Energy Innovations Liz Jones, Municipal Energy Management Associate, Climate Corps Bay Area

2. Session Overview • Highlight the barriers to energy management • Program goals and overview • Outline outcomes and benefits to date • Discuss replication potential

3. Energy Management in Small Cities • Small cities (those with less than 50,000 population) represent 25% of the population of California, but 83% of the state’s jurisdictions • AB32 and other factors demand that all cities address energy and climate • However, small communities often lack the staffing resources and economies of scale necessary to plan for climate protection, access project funds, and accelerate energy efficiency efforts.

4. What are the biggest barriers to energy management that your City faces? A Word From Our Partners “Staff capacity and knowledge. Staff have divided job responsibilities and are unable to dedicate the amount of time necessary to compile, collate, and analyze energy data, much less pursue energy efficiency and/or clean energy projects.” - Maria Sanders, City of El Cerrito “Lack of staffing… I think there is a big learning curve and staff just needs to put the time in at the beginning and it should be easier.” - KarinehSamkian, City of San Pablo “Funding and Staffing.” - Kevin Jackson, City of Piedmont

5. Barriers Examples • Benicia • Lack of communications between facilities, operations and finance lead to missed opportunities and poorly implemented solutions • San Pablo • Old equipment, undertrained staff result in deferred maintenance even with obvious problems. • Orinda • Records (and knowledge) depend on individual approaches, so municipal layoffs lead to losses in key energy information

6. What is Small Cities Climate Action Partnership (SCCAP)? • Climate and Energy Management Program for Small Cities • Includes seven small East Bay local governments (Albany, Benicia, El Cerrito, Moraga, Orinda, Piedmont and San Pablo) • Currently implemented by Strategic Energy Innovations, Inc. • Technical support team composed of AmeriCorps volunteers and a retired energy professional serving as an Encore Fellow.

7. Funding History for SCCAP • Climate Showcase Communities Program • EPA competitive grant with a goal of creating replicable models of cost-effective and persistent ghg reductions • Innovator Pilot • Funded by California utility customers and administered by PG&E under the auspices of the California Public Utilities Commission. The goal of this program is to test, demonstrate and measure innovative wasy to deliver energy savings.

8. Goals of SCCAP Innovator Pilot • Establish tools, procedures, and policies • Identify opportunities • Provide training • Develop a long-term support plan • Not trying to deliver products • Trying to grow capacity • Meeting Small Cities where they are

9. Program Elements and Timing

10. Setting up an Energy Management System

11. Pacific Gas and Electric, Co. Tools

12. Pacific Gas and Electric, Co. Tools http://www.pge.com/mybusiness/environment/whatyoucando/greencommunities/ http://www.pge.com/mybusiness/myaccount/myaccount/ http://www.pge.com/greenbutton/ http://www.pge.com/mybusiness/environment/whatyoucando/greencommunities/

13. Portfolio Manager https://www.energystar.gov/istar/pmpam/

14. EnergyCAP Express http://www.energycap.com/products/energycap-express

15. Municipal Energy Planning Tool

16. Setting up an Energy Management System

17. Setting up an Energy Management System

18. Setting up an Energy Management System - Outcomes • Needs • User-Friendly • Automatic Data Upload • Utility tools should be up-to-date and synchronized to include all active meters • Takeaways • There is no ideal solution yet • Varying desires for customization • Lots of interest, but unsure about allocation of responsibilities • Will Cities be able to update tools on their own?

19. Trainings February Introduction to SCCAP and Overview of Energy Management May Tools to Collect Data, Benchmark, Use Energy Monitoring Software, and Identify Savings Opportunities June / July Preparing for Transition

20. Trainings - Outcomes • Needs • Energy management basics - for various staff capacities • Tools – hands on, not promotional • Structure - for sustaining Energy Management after program ends • Takeaways • There are trainings out there, but they often don’t meet staff needs. • Opportunity for discussion is key to engagement • Participants have widely varying knowledge

21. Reporting • Energy Baseline Reports • Comprehensive assessment of energy use to date • First inventory of all energy related assets • Quarterly Reports • Provide updates on energy use and any energy savings or projects

22. Reporting - Outcomes • Needs • Clear information • Comprehensive data for future reference • A reasonable set of tools to manage energy data • Takeaways • Huge effort to create the first comprehensive look • Significant opportunities realized through just this effort • Lots of issues with • Data packaging • Information overload • Defining next steps • Still trying to define tolerable update process

23. Support Team AmeriCorps Members • Training • Skills learned through PG&E classes • CA legislation and how it funnels down to a local level • Energy (experience with Encore Fellow) • Software Led out of the dark and into the light!

24. Support Team AmeriCorps Members • Field Experience • Auditing • Networking • Preparing reports, creating procedural documents • Better understanding of how small Local Governments work • Project Management

25. Support Team Encore Fellow Yogi Berra said, "The future ain't what it used to be"...the Encore program is giving me another chance to help set the future straight. So far it’s been great to work with the Climate Corps interns, they are engaged and show progress at every turn. Working as a mentor is more fluid and refreshing than working simply as a consultant. It allows more creativity...I like that. I’ve also really enjoyed interacting with all of our City Partners. The City’s understand that there is value in the program and they are not taking it for granted, on the contrary, they are taking all they can get and I don't blame them.”

26. Support Team - Outcomes • Needs • Solid Training • Good Communication • Clear Scope of Work • Commitment and passion • Takeaways • It’s a long process – keep the goals in mind • Find a good fit for the organization and the team • Technical aptitude among AmeriCorps members is critical • Try to make it fun! • Nurture success

27. Benefits Realized to Date - Opportunities • Rateoptimization - recommendations for 14 sites • 3rd Party Gas - cost analysis • Albany Childcare Center - load profile with cost savings analysis of heater replacement options • San Pabloweatherization - review of confusing bids and contracts • 12 additional audits / studies of specific facilities in progress “City budgets are in trouble.  Any savings are great so understanding energy management, even if it is for cost savings, is a good start… Of course the reinvestment funds will be crucial to keep it going” - KarinehSamkian, City of San Pablo

28. Benefits Realized to Date – Capacity Building • Engagement of 7 local governments • Forum for participation • Desire to sustain efforts • Interest from other municipalities • “Collaboration has been effective so far in developing tools. However, on-going management is a question.” • - Kevin Jackson, City of Piedmont

29. Benefits Realized to Date - Frameworks, Procedures, Policies • Energy Action Plan • Reinvestment mechanism • Model policies SCCAP-IP has succeeded in developing the right sources of information to support energy management. The next steps will be to demonstrate both the energy savings and the cost reduction associated with effective energy management. – John Sherbert, Town of Moraga

30. Replication Potential & Discussion “With demonstrated results, generating support ought to be much simpler when we can point to the results from other small agencies that have succeeded. Then city or town managers can argue that energy management and reinvestment is not only prudent, but required by their fiduciary duties!!” – John Sherbert, Town of Moraga • How we’re going to share outcomes • Workshops (2 live 1 webinar) • Electronic sharing of resources • Discussion • How to create a low/no-cost forum for engaging cities? • What of this would you like to see replicated and how?

31. Thank you Kif Scheuer, kif@seiinc.org Liz Jones, elzbth.jones@gmail.com www.seiinc.org